No, not a lot of enemies growing up.

Cooking over an open fire is good, but so is cooking with coals. Each way has its good points. Some foods are really good wrapped in foil and buried in the coals. It is a great way to roast meat and bake potatoes. If you have ears of corn still in their husks, you can soak them in water and then lay them on the coals and let them steam in the husks. Yum! This is making me hungry. Pass the butter and salt!

I might be mistaken about this, but I think that a fire might be better than coals for heating your camp. The reason I say this is because a bed of coals is not going to be very tall (especially in a pit or trench), and there will not be as much heat radiated horizontally as there would be with the open fire. Either way, you'll get more usable heat if you make a reflector of some kind.

I agree with your preference for a small fire.

Regarding food, if you are going to rely on a 25 lb bow, you might want to concentrate on smaller game like rabbits and squirrels. If you can adjust your aim, you could try shooting fish. I wouldn't try shooting a deer with it, unless maybe it was a fawn, and I wouldn't do that unless I was desperate. You certainly could kill it if you could get close enough and could put the arrow in the right place, but I think your time and energies would be better spent going after smaller game or gathering edible plants.

As for whether to go after edible plants or animals first, the correct answer is "water". After locating a good water source, then go after the other foods. I wouldn't worry too much about whether to go for plant or animal foods first. Plants aren't going to run away from you, so if you come across a good plant source, go for it. You can live off of the plant sources while you hunt for animal sources if you have too. On the other hand, if you find Thumper hanging around before you get your plant foods, take him out. You can gnaw on one of his legs while you look for your plant sources. Keep in mind that you should not be eating unless you have plenty of water.

You asked about other things you might need. There are several things. You might want to take a small sharpening stone to maintain the edge on your knife. You might carry a space blanket or a plastic sheet with you to use as shelter or ground cloth, at least until you get something else built. A small container of insect repellent might not be a bad idea. The May 2003 edition of Consumer Reports has an article rating several repellants. You might also have several feet of twine for lashing and snares. You might want to have a small shovel, such as the G.I. entrenching tool. At some point, you're going to need a latrine. You should also have a small first aid kit. One thing you need to have with you that is often overlooked is a bar of antibacterial soap. You run the risk of some pretty nasty stomach and intestinal problems if you eat with unwashed hands. Even if you can't wash the rest of your body or your clothes, you should wash your hands after relieving yourself, touching or cleaning game, and before handling food. It would be a good idea to have some sugarless gum with you, or some other means of cleaning your teeth. You can also chew the end of a green twig until it is mashed up into a mass of fibers, and use that to clean your teeth. If you ignore your teeth, you may regret it later. I would also recommend that you have a compass of some kind, a good whistle, and a small signal mirror. You don't have to get the expensive Starflash mirror. It is possible to aim other types of mirrors. Whatever type of mirror you use, make sure that it is unbreakable. From the sound of your other posts, it sounds like you are preparing for something other than getting stranded. Perhaps you do not want to be found, but on the other hand, you might find yourself in a situation where you want or need to be found, and then the mirror and whistle will worth their weight in gold. Here's an added benefit to the whistle. Some animals, such as rabbits and groundhogs, will stop in their tracks, sit up and look around when they hear the sound of a shrill whistle.

Use wisdom about the type, size, and location of your shelter. In hot weather, a large shelter may be cooler, but in cold weather, a small, snug shelter is warmer. Also, you will want to conserve energy and water as much as possible, so be careful about the complexity of your shelter.

I would strongly recommend that you get a copy of the army survival manual. I think you would like it and find it to be very interesting and informative. I have the 1970 edition of FM21-76, and it is excellent. It has a lot of pictures and diagrams, and includes edible plants and animals and how to prepare them. You can read a copy of the 1992 version on this site. The URL is http://www.equipped.org/fm21-76.htm .

By the way, since you will be out in the wild, you should know something about bears. Do you know how to tell the difference between a black bear and a grizzly bear? To find out, you sneak up behind him, give him a good swift kick in the butt and climb a tree real fast. If the bear climbs the tree and eats you, he's a black bear. If he pushes the tree over and eats you, he's a grizzly. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />